Nuku-Hiva

19 June 2011 | Taiohae Bay

David

I have been remiss in keeping the blog up to date, partly due to the lure of internet; it really sucks all your time. We had a 12 hour sail from Tahuata to Nuku-Hiva arriving just before dark. The anchorage I remember as peaceful and idyllic was anything but with the overly strong southeasterlys we were having. Every squall brought a new wind direction with the many (it was quite crowded) boats turning every which way requiring a lot of space between you and your neighbor. We gave up trying to crowd into the east end of the anchorage and went to the west side by ourselves. Not as good internet, but at least we were safe. We spent 3 nights rocking and rolling. We saw two dingys damaged while we were there, people not using a stern anchor and the surge will either flip it when it come in contact with the wall or it will get under the ladder and punctured. I saw both in the short while we were there. We tried to obtain fuel directly from the quay, a stressful process in the big swells and rain while trying to med moor just up wind of a large barge. The end result is after receiving the fuel hose aboard via heaving line it was a bit too short. So we took on 310 liters using the dingy, jerry jugs, and a line to lower the jugs into the dingy from the quay. We paid $147 CPF per liter or $6.95 US per gal. We could have paid $104 CPF (duty Free) if we hired an agent but the agent would have cost more than we would have saved and French Polynesia is one place you don't need an agent, it is just so easy. It is a wonderful place normally; we just hit it the wrong weather time and with a whole lot of other boats.

Our first catamaran was a Manta 42. She was built in St Petersburg and we went to pick her up in November 2000.
We spent every summer cruising the Beautiful Bahamas islands (700) from the busy Nassau harbor (We never stay more than 2 or 3 days)to the more remote islands like the crooked islands or the ragged islands (also known as the Jumentos and the friendliest of all , Long Island. We never got tired of the turquoise waters , the kindness of the Bahamians and all the fun we had with all the friends we made over the years.